The Soldier and The Senshi
by gunman
Summary: Captain America gets sent to the Grenadier world where he joins forces with Rushuna Tendoh to fight in yet another war. Rating may not be accurate. Chapters 2 and 3 up now.
1. Chapter 1

_**THE SOLDIER AND THE SENSHI**_

by Gunman

Disclaimer: I do not own Grenadier or Captain America.

And before anyone starts getting on me for putting two _blonds_ together, I originally chose Captain America because I had just watched the Ultimate Avengers DVD and Grenadier in the same week and I realized that Cap basically has the same ideals as that of Rushuna Tendoh. He may be a soldier, but he would prefer to live in peace the rest of his life. Rushuna is the same way. She may possess incredible marksmanship skills, but she fights to end War across Japan.

I also realized that Captain America's shield-wielding skills would compliment Rushuna's gun-wielding prowess. And Yajiro's sword-wielding talent will only add to their repertoire later on.

(_R'epertoire_: The range or number of skills, aptitudes, or special accomplishments of a particular person or group)

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Chapter 1

**The Meeting**

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Once he was merely Steve Rogers, a frail young man rejected for military service, but chosen for the top secret Rebirth Project due to his persistence in wanting to serve his country.

The Super Solider Serum created by the brilliant scientist Dr Erskine, elevated Steve to the peak of human physical perfection.

Possessing strength, speed, reflexes, agility and endurance greater than that of any Olympic-level athlete, the serum also enhanced his metabolism and immune system, preventing him from ever getting sick or becoming intoxicated by alcohol, prevents the build-up of fatigue poisons in his muscles, and give him stamina far greater than any ordinary human being.

It also enhanced his body from a frail, nearly rail-thin young man, into a highly athletic man with nearly triple his original muscle mass. Though not quite superhuman, he could easily curl weights in excess of 550 lbs. and deadlift a maximum of 800.

However, he was the only Super Soldier created by the project, as it was sabotaged by a Nazi agent. Steve managed to defeat the Nazi agent, but it was too late to save Erskine.

Without a means to replicate the process and create a battalion of Super Soldiers, the American government transformed Steve Rogers into a living symbol of their country.

A superhero they called... Captain America!

For nearly three years, Captain America was on the front lines of every major offensive and mission against the Nazis. He earned a high degree of prestige amongst the Allies, and the ire of the Axis powers. Particularly that of a Nazi commander named Kleiser.

The war continued until word reached the Allies that Hitler had committed suicide in his bunker in Berlin.

However, a group of desperate Nazi commandos had established a base on an island off the coast of Norway. The rumor was they had created a super weapon that was poised to destroy Washington. On May 2nd, 1945, the Allies sent a battalion of soldiers to stop them, lead by Captain America.

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"Captain, we're over the drop zone sir!" the pilot said.

The Super Soldier nodded as he placed the photo of his fiancée into his jacket.

The green light signaled the go for the soldiers to parachute down towards the island base.

The second the planes had been spotted, the Nazi soldiers opened fire upon them. Several of the parachuters were cut down before they hit the ground, others died while on the ground.

"Where's your Super Soldier, Barns? We're getting cut to pieces!" Sgt Kowalski groaned in pain as he shouted to the unit photographer, Bucky Barns.

The sound of an airplane engine caught his attention.

"There he is!" Barns shouted.

The plane flew in through the small canyon of the island, taking several hits from the cannons of the castle that the Nazis had occupied for their plans. However, that didn't stop it's pilot.

The plane was a half-mile from the castle when the pilot suddenly leaped out and fell towards the fast approaching ground. His body went limp as fell at an angle, tumbling across the hard dirt until he came to a grinding halt just seconds before the plane slammed into the front gates of the castle. The explosion knocked the Nazis off their feet and opened the way for the American soldiers.

The GI's looked up as a tall man dressed in blue wielding a red, white and blue triangular shield stood before them all. He was wore a blue helmet with a white 'A' on the forehead, a red turtleneck beneath a blue jacket, a white five-point star on his chest with vertical red and white stripes running around the stomach. A brown leather mask covered most of his upper face, his eyes glaring out through two lenses.

"Alright Soldiers! Let's Take This Dump!" Captain America shouted.

The throng of cheers sounded from all the soldiers as they charged the castle gates.

Captain America lead the charge, shield in front as the American commandos charge. Winding their way through the thick hallways of the castle, the commandos eventually finding what they were searching for.

_So that's their super weapon._ Captain America thought as he stared at the giant rocket in the center of a large tower of the castle.

A sudden hail of gunfire cut off his musings as he noticed the Nazi soldiers on the upper walk. Captain America leaped over the railings, catching a crane and swinging towards the control room.

"Keep 'em covered!" an American soldier shouted as they fired on the Nazis.

Meanwhile, Captain America had swung up towards the upper level of the castle where the control room was. When he landed, he paused yet again as he say both human technicians and what looked like... large green-skinned insect-like creatures.

"Captain America. Our fortunes have crossed yet again." a thick German-accent caught Captain America's attention.

"Kleiser." the super-soldier hissed under his breath, recognizing the high-level Nazi officer.

"Start the operation!" the Nazi yelled as the alien creatures advanced upon Captain America, who let loose with his shield, knocking several of them back.

The technicians initiated the countdown as Kleiser leaped at Captain America, his fist landing hard against Captain America's steel shield, making a fist-sized dent in the shield as well as sending the Captain flying into the wall.

"This war is over and you have lost!" Kleiser said as he advanced upon the super soldier.

"Haven't you heard? Hitler's dead!" Captain America shouted as gripped his shield with both hands and brought it upside Kleiser's head. That stunned him for a second, allowing the super soldier to follow through with a kick to the chest that launched the Nazi agent across the room and into a swastika flag.

"Patriotic fool! Look around you! This isn't about Hitler!" Kleiser said as he got back up to his feet, prepared to fight, but too late to avoid Captain America's shield as he tossed it into the Nazis chest. "ARGH!" he shouted.

Captain America gasped as he noticed that instead of a blood that spewed from him, greenish tendrils emerged from his chest. His face contorted and shifted into that of the aliens, revealing his true nature. He pulled the shield out of his chest, Captain America reclaiming it as his features returned to what they once were.

The rocket suddenly roared to life. Forgetting his enemies, Cap took off into a run, leaping over the railing and running along the outstretched metal beams, he leaped off the beams towards the rocket. Grasping his shield tightly, Cap slammed the pointed end of the shield into the paneling of the rocket as it started to ascended.

Outside on the ground, the soldiers watched as the rocket launched from the castle. It was Bucky who noticed through his camera that Captain America was hanging from the rocket itself.

"Cap." Bucky whispered.

The rocket was slowly climbing towards the stratosphere as four strange looking ships followed close behind it.

Cap had lost his shield, but couldn't be concerned with that as he pulled a grenade out of his belt and was about to drop it into the rocket itself, when he was attacked by Kleiser. The Nazi agent was using his alien claws to limb up to where Cap was. He jumped on Captain America's back and tried to pull him off of it. He turned him over and punched him twice in the face before Cap managed to kick him off of him. The Nazi commander fell backwards and was engulfed in the rocket engines. The rocket continued to ascend and Cap quickly took the opportunity to pull the pin on the grenade and dropped it into the rocket before leaping away from it.

The grenade exploded inside the rocket, causing a chain reaction that ignited the rocket's nuclear core. The explosion lite up the sky for miles.

However, unlike in the original universe, two different things happened.

The first was that instead of one Chitari ship being destroyed, all **four** were.

The second thing that happened, was that the blast opened a tear in fabric of time/space and forced Cap through it.

To the world at large, Captain America had died saving the world from a Nazi super weapon, and effectively brought an end to the war. But in reality, his adventures had just begun.

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A small hot springs in the mountains...

"The moon is so beautiful tonight." the beautiful, blond-haired, and well-endowed woman sighed as the warm/hot water enveloped her naked body.

It had been a couple months since Lady Tenshi had sent the beautiful young senshi Rushuna Tendoh out to implement the Ultimate Battle Strategy in an attempt to end war. Despite being exceptionally well trained, talented and skilled, Rushuna was also concerned.

War, hatred, violence was something even someone like her couldn't win on her own. Originally she thought that the only way she was going to win this, would be one person at a time. One battle at a time. That would take a long time. Not to say that she wasn't determined, but she realized that she needed help. Friends and allies who shared her ideals.

What she needed, was a partner.

Suddenly, a brief explosion and a bright flash overhead caught her attention, snapping her out of her daze as the brilliant glow of the moon revealed something falling towards her.

Her eyes focused on the object. She gasped.

_It's a person!_

Said object flew off towards the mountain at a strange angle, crashing into it not twenty meters above Rushuna's head and tumbling down the rough and jagged slope. It came to a stopping crash not two meters from the hotspring that Rushuna sat in.

Springing from the water, the young woman grabbed her towel and gun and headed over.

Noticing it was a human man, she stared at him cautiously for a couple seconds. That caution quickly turning to curiosity and concern as she gently flipped him over, sighing with relief when she saw he was breathing.

Falling out of the sky from who knows where, slamming headfirst into a mountainside, and then tumbling down in only to crash-land into solid rock, and he looked like he barely had a scratch on him. In fact, his clothes looked worse than him.

His outfit consisted of a mostly blue jacket-like shirt with a white five-point star on the chest with vertical red and white stripes running around the stomach. He had a red turtleneck underneath that. Bluish-green pants with pockets on the sides, brown boots covered by some kind of leg coverings, brown gloves, a brown leather belt with compartments on it, one strap went from the belt across his left shoulder that looked like it was supposed to be a holster for a gun or something, and a brown leather mask that covered most of his upper face, two circular lenses over his eyes.

However, the mask and the uniform looked like they had been shredded as if he had been caught in an explosion.

_What strange clothes. Who is this man? Where is he from?_ She wondered as she looked him over. He was about 6'2", highly athletic, probably about 220 lbs. Short blond hair and... yup, blue eyes, she noticed as she opened his eye lids.

However, she had failed to notice that her towel had slipped from around her chest, exposing her to the night air.

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Steve groaned as his eyes struggled to open. The first thing he noticed was that he was warm. He then noticed that he was also wet. And it wasn't sweat, although that was part of it. His hands and toes wiggled and managed to confirm that he was mostly submerged in water. Hot water. He felt his head resting comfortably against something soft yet firm. What's more, a slight shift of his body, and his head, told him he was completely naked.

"You're awake." a soft serene voice spoke.

Suddenly, everything became crystal clear for the man.

His battlefield-honed instincts and reflexes kicked into high gear and launched the man up, off the soft pillow-like objects, and slamming hard into a solid rock wall with his back.

"What... who... where..." he gasped as he tried to form an appropriate question, his vision clearing enough to see who his companion was. His defenses fell as he took in a very attractive, very well-endowed, Naked, young woman with long blond hair and bright amber eyes.

"I'm pleased to see that you've recovered. And judging by your movements, you are obviously not seriously injured." the woman said with a kind smile.

_That smile..._ Steve thought, his will to fight seemingly undone at the power of such a simple gesture.

"My name is Rushuna Tendoh. May I ask your name?" the woman said.

"Steve. Steve Rogers." he replied.

She continued to smile as he kept himself submerged to avoid any form of embarrassment, from either party. Being raised on 1930's America values, Steve found it rather difficult to be so open to anyone he didn't know. Especially a beautiful young woman. He came from an era that was locked in a time of war. Spies and saboteurs were a reality, so one had to be guarded at all times. Often closed, in order to protect themselves.

However, his companion didn't seem to have any form of modesty about that. And considering that they were alone, the rational part of his mind deduced that she was the one who had stripped him naked and put him into the water.

_And up against her..._ he mentally smacked himself in the head at that thought. But it made him consider why she had done that. "Excuse me, miss?"

"Yes?"

"I... I don't mean to sound rude, or ungrateful that you helped me, but... why did you do that?"

"Do what?" she asked, clearly confused by what he meant.

"Remove my clothes and put my head against your..." he said, but paused as he came to that part of the question.

She smiled again.

"It is how I was taught to comfort those who are in pain. I will open my arms to those who suffer, and hold them close to my bosom to ease their pain. I was taught that the simplest gesture can have tremendous positive effects on a human being." she said, as if reciting an oath.

Steve looked at her with some obvious confusion. The woman was clearly from a different era than he was, otherwise she wouldn't be so open about something like that. After all, being that close to someone, clothed or otherwise, was not what he had been taught.

Not that his parents had lived long enough to really give him those kinds of lessons. Everything he knew was from the world he had lived in.

"You disapprove?" she asked him, noticing his slight grimace.

"Well..." he started to say.

"You didn't like it."

"It's not that." he quickly added, not wanting to offend the women. "It's just... where I come from, people don't do that sort of thing to each other unless they are blood related. Nor do they bath with each other naked unless they are... lovers or married." he explained.

"I see. I did not mean to offend you." she apologized.

"I'm not offended. Just... startled."

She smiled again, and Steve relaxed a bit at that.

They sat in silence for several minutes. Rushuna kept looking at the moon and sighing.

"It's so beautiful, isn't it?"

"Uh... what is?" he asked, not taking his eyes off of her. She just looked so at peace, so serene. To be honest it was something he longed for as well.

"The moon."

Steve looked skyward and let himself smile at her honest observation.

"Yes. It is." he replied.

Several more minutes past as the pair continued to look to the sky. Steve broke the silence as he turned to ask the young woman something.

"Uh, Miss?"

"Yes?"

"Could you tell me... where am I?"

She smiled again. "You're in a hot spring on the north side of Mt Totago."

His face turned into a frown. "Totago? I don't recognize that name. What country is it in?"

"Japan."

"JAPAN!" he gasped as he nearly jumped out of the water.

Being an American soldier of World War II, his enemies had first been The Nazis, and then Japan. If he had somehow ended up in the Land of the Rising Sun, and he didn't think that was possible for him even if he was caught in the explosion of that Nazi rocket, then he was in enemy territory. But that was impossible, wasn't it?

"Yes, you are in Japan. Have you been here before?" she asked.

"Uh, a few times." he said.

"I see."

"Uh, this may be a strange question, but... isn't there a war going on?"

The girl looked a little sad. "Unfortunately, yes. Some are calling it The Great Civil War. It is raging all across the land. Many innocent people are being swept up in it."

_Civil War? The Great Japanese Civil War? But Japan was unified under the Emperor. Unless..._ "What year is it?"

"Pardon?" she asked, thrown off by his question.

"The year? What year is it?" he asked again.

"I believe it is 1865."

_**1865**! _he mentally gasped. _And somehow... I don't think she's lying or making a joke_.

However, even if she was telling the truth, what she was saying was impossible! It was **1945** last he knew. How did he get tossed back in time 80 years? And ending up in Japan no less? It didn't make any sense to him.

Actually, none of this was making any sense to him.

The only thing he could think of... was that when the rocket exploded, it must have sent him back in time 80 years. There was nothing else he could think of, and even he wasn't buying that long shot. He wasn't a scientist so trying to understand how that was even theoretically possible was too far beyond his grasp.

And worst of all, if he was back in 1865, then all his friends and loved ones, including his girlfriend Gail and his closest friend, Bucky Barns, hadn't even been born yet. None of the men from his unit-Kowalski, Davis, Roland, Carter-all of them had also not been born yet.

The America he had fought so hard for, the ideals of Peace, Freedom, and Justice he had struggled to keep the Nazis from supplanting with their tyrannical regime, did not exist yet.

The only thing that gave him the slightest bit of comfort was the fact that the Nazis regime also did not exist in this time.

But it was small comfort, considering that even if he did manage to hop a boat or something to get back to America, he would still be 80 years behind where he should have been.

Steve felt his energy drain as never before, his body slumping hard against the rocks of the hot spring. A lost look covered his face.

He was a man without a country, out of place in this time and era, and nothing familiar around him but the clothes he wore. He looked over and saw that in his clothes was the picture of his girl Gail. He sighed. Before he had become Captain America, Steve had a purpose: serve his country. Gail had given him another reason. Now he had neither. Even if he still had her picture, it was just an effigy of what no longer existed. Or didn't exist yet.

He held his head in slight pain. Thinking like that was just beyond him.

Rushuna saw the expression on his face and felt her heart drop as well. Slowly she rose out of the hot springs and walked over to him. He barely noticed her gorgeous naked figure as she sat down next to him.

"What's wrong?" she asked with concern.

"I'm lost, Rushuna. I... I don't know where I am or what I'm going to do now. My friends, my unit, everything I know... it doesn't exist now. I'm just..."

"Just what, Stechan?" she asked, inadvertently giving the man a cute nickname.

He didn't catch it right away.

"I'm alone." he said with sadness.

Rushuna just stared at him, his sadness emulated on her own face. She may have been a fairly bright and optimistic person, but she could see that this was disturbing him greatly.

"You're not alone, Stechan."

"I'm not?"

"No. You have me." she said, smiling at him once more as she put her hand in his

Steve stared at the woman in disbelief. She had just met him and already she considered herself his friend.

But he considered that. This was clearly her world, and if anything, he was going to need an ally that he could trust.

"Thank you, Rushuna." he smiled.

"You're welcome, Stechan." she smiled back

His smile turned to confusion as soon as she said that.

"Stechan?"

"It's a cute name, don't you think?" she smiled again.

_Oh for the love of Mike! Now she's naming me!_ He mentally groaned.

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Authors Notes:

Just so everyone knows, I don't know exactly how old Captain America is in the 'Ultimate Avengers' DVD, so I wrote him to be 25 years of age in this, since as far as I know he was born in the early 1920's. Also, even though the bio's I've read on 'Grenadier' say that Rushuna is about 16 years old, I've written her so that she is 20 in this story, but still looks the same as she does in the series.

Also, it's important to note that this story takes place in the alternate dimension of Rushuna's world, not the past of Captain America's world, and that this story will follow the events of Grenadier. I'm not planning to add the Avengers to this story, just Captain America placed in the Grenadier world. Yajiro the samurai probably won't be in this story until the third or fourth chapter, as I have some story building and set-up planned for the Captain until then.

Also, in case you didn't know, this is a Captain America/Rushuna Tendoh pairing.


	2. New Clothes

_**THE SOLDIER AND THE SENSHI**_

Chapter 2 **- New Clothes**

by Gunman

Disclaimer: I do not own Captain America nor Grenadier. This is basically just a story I have done for my own personal amusement, as well as a shameless attempt at writing up something so that I can say I was the first to do so.

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"So this, Ultimate Battle Strategy, of yours..." Steve said as the pair walked along the dirt road.

"Yes, Stechan?" Rushuna asked.

"You just... smile?" he said, slightly confused.

She smiled again at him. "Yes. By removing the enemies will to fight, you achieve peace. And the best way to do that, is to start with a kind smile." she explained.

It was an odd way to prove a point, but when she smiled, Steve did in fact feel no desire to fight.

He wondered how many Nazis that would have worked on.

_Not Kleiser that's for sure_. He thought as he continued walking.

It had been nearly ten hours since Steve had landed at the hot springs where he met Rushuna Tendoh, and gained a unique and beautiful ally at the same time.

He wasn't all sure what had happened to bring him to this place, but what he did know is that he was unable to get home either. The best he could figure, is that when he jumped onto the Nazi rocket and caused it to explode, the explosion somehow tore a hole in the fabric of time and space and tossed him through it, landing him 80 years in the past. (And the only reason he had even considered that, was he had watched a new science fiction movie with Bucky about a year before the Norway Mission that dealt with that)

What's more, he was off the coast of Norway when the explosion occurred, yet now found himself in Japan. That didn't make any sense to him.

"Stechan?" the blond-haired, amber eyed woman said, knocking him out of his thoughts.

"Yes?" he replied back.

"You're upset again." she said.

His expression was one of mild shock and then embarrassment as he realized that he was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he had inadvertently started frowning, which upset his new friend.

If there was one thing he had learned about Rushuna in the few hours since he had met her, is that she was rather sensitive about how a person felt, which was clearly displayed in their expressions. He had tried not to be so down, but sometimes you couldn't help it.

"I didn't mean to upset you." he said.

"I'm more worried about you." she replied.

"Thanks, but I'm fine. Really."

As they walked, Steve looked over and noticed Rushuna's outfit. Though he was just glad she was wearing clothes now.

She wore a dark pink shirt with short sleeves and white overshirt, kinda like it was supposed to be a vest, which didn't cover her generous assets in front. The pink shirt did, the white vest didn't. Her long pink gloves covered her hands, wrists, and forearms, but had her trigger fingers and thumbs removed, with metal guards on the back palms of her hands. Her long skirt was white and went from her waist to her twirl around her ankles. The right side of her skirt had a huge split up it that went from her waist down to her boots. With the right movements and wind the skirt would reveal her shapely, well-built and flawless legs. A pink strap of cloth was tied high on her right leg, just above the brown holster where her gun, a modified .38 Revolver, hung. Her long boots were mostly leather it seemed, dark pink in color with metallic knee guards. The large straw hat with the pink ribbon around the head, with the long tail flowing behind her completed the outfit.

Together with her long flowing blond hair, sparkling golden eyes and flawless complexion, Rushuna was truly a sight to behold.

Especially next to his tattered and shredded red, white and mostly blue uniform. He had decided to forgo his mask, since Rushuna had seen him anyway. Heck, she had seen him totally naked when she stripped him bare and submerged his body in the hot spring.

He blushed at that thought a bit.

"So, where are we going now?" he asked his lovely companion.

"Don't know. I'm just walking, really." she replied.

Steve had to admit that wasn't much of a plan. He had been told that her original goal was to find a way to end war. But if one didn't know where to start, how could one save the world.

Or in this case, the country.

That actually brought a comforting thought to his mind. As Captain America he had been responsible for fighting the Nazi threat. Not only for his own country, but for the sake of the world, now that he thought about it. If he hadn't fought to stop the Nazis from winning the war, they would have just kept going until they had taken over the world.

But now that he was here, in Japan at this time, he figured he was just helping to end war here. Civil wars usually remained in-country. That's why it was comforting, because he wasn't fighting for the entire planet, just one country.

Rushuna hadn't said who the fighting factions were, but he got the sense that it wasn't just two groups.

And if it was true that there were several groups running rampant around the country, then he still had his work cut out for him.

Him _and_ Rushuna.

"Look, there's a town." her voice brought him back to reality.

He looked down from the top of the hill they had stopped at and saw a fairly large town. Maybe thirty buildings, some of them houses. The town itself was surrounded by a six-foot rock wall.

"Come on. Maybe they have a place we can rest for the night." Rushuna said, taking Steve's hand and leading him down to the town. "Maybe even a bath house with hot water."

He mentally groaned at that. _Is that all she thinks about?_

The pair made their way down to the town. Rushuna just walked right in, but Steve paused at the entry way. From the top of the hill looking down there appeared to be only two ways into the town. The entrance that lead into the town and the exit at the opposite end.

But what was really strange, is that there was no one in sight. No people. Not even a guard dog by the town entrance.

Maybe it was his extensive time spent on the battlefield, or just paranoia from the era he lived in, but Steve couldn't help feeling wary.

"Something isn't right about this." he mumbled as he followed Rushuna into the town.

"Hello! Is Anyone Here?" the blond haired woman called out.

Steve just looked at her. He wondered if she felt the anxiety he was feeling and was just hiding it. He knew that she could feel his tension, if their conversation was any indication of this, but he had to wonder how she could act the way she did if her purpose was to end war.

He noticed several windows edging open and scared eyes peering out from them.

_Someone or something has got these people scared. Are they simply afraid of strangers?_ Steve wondered.

A young tailor looked out of his shop and gasped.

_He's here. He... he has actually come._

Steve continued to follow Rushuna through the empty-looking town,

"Something's very wrong here, I can feel it." Steve said.

"And I think I know why." Rushuna said, stopping in the middle of the town.

Steve stopped behind her and looked ahead. His muscles tensed as his 'game face' overlaid his features.

Before them both stood approximately eight men all dressed in virtually the same outfits. Nothing too extraordinary or stand-out-ish, but it was obvious they were a gang of some sort. Actually, they had a look of being like uniforms.

"Lookie here boys. Visitors." one of the men said.

"Do you like visitors in your town?" Rushuna asked, trying to remain polite.

"Of course. Visitors have to pay a hefty toll when they come to our village." a second man said.

"What if we have no money?" she asked, smiling at the men.

Steve looked at the men. Just from the way they were standing, they way they were dressed, they way they spoke and carried themselves, none of them seemed like the leader. In fact, they looked like they were expecting, or looking forward to causing, trouble.

"Who are you?" Steve asked.

"We're the senshi who protect this town. And strangers make us nervous, but money can help allay our fears."

"Like the lady said, what if we don't have any money?" he asked.

Rushuna looked at him, a lite tingling in her as he said that.

"Then we're going to have to ask you to leave." the men said as they aimed their guns at the pair.

Steve's mind went to work. If what Rushuna had told him about this country was right, then these people were abusing their powers as 'guardians' of this village. But what didn't make sense was that if these men were the senshi of this village, then where were the people?

"Ohhh, can't you make an exception, for little old us?" Rushuna smiled, the eight men suddenly lowering their guns as Steve noticed just how effective her strategy really was.

Suddenly, a large man with a strange haircut, dark clothes, and a strange cannon strapped to his back, stepped out of one of the houses.

"What the hell is going on here?" the large man asked.

When he noticed that his men were just standing around, and not doing their jobs, he shouted.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked Steve and Rushuna.

"We're travelers just looking for a place to spend the night. Though we have no money to do so." Rushuna said.

"This is our town, so you'll have to leave."

"Speaking of which, where are the people of this town?" Steve asked.

"That's not your concern."

"Wrong."

The man and Rushuna looked at him.

"You say your job is protecting people, but we haven't done anything to harm them." Steve said.

"And how do you..."

Suddenly, the towns tailor dared to step out of his house.

"Master Zandou, please. What if we just give them some supplies to make their journey more of a comfortable one. It wouldn't be any imposition to..."

SMACK!

"Know your place, peasant!" the leader Zandou said, backhanding the man.

While his attention was focused on the tailor, now lying on the ground, Zandou failed to notice the flying fist of one Steve Rogers slam into his face, knocking him down the street towards his men.

"Are you alright?" Steve asked the tailor as Rushuna helped the man up.

"I am fine. Thank the gods you've come." he said to both of them.

"Tell me the truth, what's happened here?" Steve asked the tailor as the thugs looked at their fallen leader, who was struggling to load his weapon.

"These senshi took over our village months ago. They say that they're here to protect us, but they've had us paying huge amounts of money for that protection. And if we don't pay, they beat us." he said to the super soldier.

"Occupation by force." he said.

"And not just the men. The women too, and every night, our children cower in fear of them." the tailor added.

His course now clear, he pushed the tailor back to his shop and turned to the men.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Take them!" Zandou cried out as he pulled his cannon off his back and started loading it.

"But, boss, she's so..." one of the thugs started protesting as he looked at the still

Zandou looked at him angrily for several seconds before, "ARGH!" he shouted as he pulled his large gun and aimed it at the blond young woman. "You'll be the first to die you golden-haired harlot! And your boyfriend will watch!"

Steve was about to react, until a single gunshot sounded behind him. The bullet flew from her gun barrel and struck the gun near the trigger, causing the leader to drop the gun, stunning everyone.

"You did that?" Steve asked.

"I know. I try not to resort to this, but I keep doing just that." Rushuna blushed.

Zandou growled as he pulled out what he considered to be his hand-to-hand weapon. The bullwhip snapped as he ran towards the pair, throwing the whip's tip out at Rushuna. However, it found it's way not to the woman, but to Steve's left wrist, wrapping tightly around it.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you that it's not nice to hit a lady?" he said as he pulled hard on his end of the whip, jerking the leader off his feet, flying towards the super soldier and having his face slam hard into a gloved right fist.

"GET THEM!!!" one of the thugs cried as Zandou was tossed headfirst into a rock-base part of a nearby house, knocking him cold.

Quicker than Steve could see, Rushuna spun around and fired off her five other bullets. She was able to shoot out the guns from five of the men, then spun around as bullets flew out of her clothes. Steve didn't notice where from as she swished her gun through the bullets, catching them in their chambers and closing it to fire again. Three more shots and the last three were unarmed.

Steve was stunned by this. The quickness, the accuracy. It was almost inhuman.

_Who is the this woman?_

However, because of her skill, and her sworn oath, she didn't kill any of them. While not aware of this, the senshi thugs gained the opportunity to charge the pair, hoping to overwhelm them with sheer numbers, and took it.

"TAKE 'EM DOWN!" one of the thugs cried out as they charged the pair.

However, they had no way of knowing that this was Steve's arena.

One of the thugs had a back-up gun and pulled it, firing at the pair. Steve charged forward, unafraid of the bullets flying towards him, side-stepping each bullet with almost fluid efficiency. He leaped at the thugs like a human battering ram, the force of his attack taking the group by surprise as he let loose a volley of punches and kicks that everywhere he lashed out, found a target. Within only a few seconds, the thugs were sprawled out on the ground and Steve was standing over them.

The blond-haired young woman stood unblinking at the man as he dusted himself off lightly.

"Are you alright, Rushuna?" Steve turned and asked the woman.

The young woman gave him a glazed look before launching herself forward, wrapping her arms around his neck and planting a big wet kiss on his cheek.

"Wha... what was that for?" he gasped as he looked at her.

"You called me a lady." she said with a dazzling smile. "What about you? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." he said. "That was amazing, though. I've never seen marksmanship like that before."

"Thank you. I've never seen such athleticism before. You dodged those bullets effortlessly."

"I've spent a lot of time on the battlefield." he said with some indignation, like he wasn't proud of that fact, but it was fact nonetheless.

"I see." she said quietly.

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It took about an hour to get the group trussed up and appointing several of the villagers to be the new senshi. Though skittish, they accepted the job only to protect themselves and keep their former protectors in their jail. It wasn't steel and concrete, but it would do.

The town itself was so grateful to the pair they did their best to show them their gratitude.

"Is there anything we can do for you?" the village elder said.

"Well, we could use a few supplies. Food and such." Steve said, though it was clear he fairly uncomfortable asking.

"Of course." the old man smiled.

"And do you happen to have a hot spring or a bath? I could use one." Rushuna asked.

"Oh, certainly young lady." an elderly woman said. "This way."

"Yippie!"

Steve couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm for hot baths. Not that he objected to it himself.

"Excuse me, sir." the tailor said suddenly.

"Yes?" Steve replied to the man.

"Would you follow me, please? I have something for you." he said as he headed back to his shop.

"For me?" he asked in confusion, but followed anyway.

Steve followed the man into his tailor shop. He wondered if the man was going to volunteer to patch up his torn uniform. Instead, he pulled out a package from a secret hiding place in the floor and set it before him.

"What's this?" Steve asked.

"It's... for you."

"Huh?" he asked, clearly confused.

"Some years ago, my grandfather created this outfit using Adamantium cloth. He said he didn't know why he made it, just that, when the time was right, you would appear."

Now Steve was really confused. "Me?"

"He said, 'I will not live long enough to give this to the man who will help us. You must do so. You will know him by his tattered blue uniform and the white star on his chest. He will have short gold hair and blue eyes. This uniform is meant for him and him alone.' I don't really know what my grandfather meant by all this. Maybe he had a vision or something that our village would face some form of trouble, I don't really know. But after seeing you here now, I realize that he wasn't just being senile. So... here."

"Thank you." Steve said, not wanting offend the man or his grandfather.

He went behind the screen in the side of the shop and changed. Within a minute he had replaced his old tattered uniform with this new one. Looking at himself in the full length mirror, Steve realized that this outfit was a lot like his old uniform, though the differences were obvious.

It was red, white and mostly blue.

The upper torso was blue, with a white five-pointed star in the center of the chest surrounded by a black border. The lower torso had thick vertical alternating red and white stripes around the stomach area around the back. A black belt with several compartments on it for what he might need to carry. The gloves were red, stopping nearly at his elbows. From there the arms of the costume were white until they hit the edge of the shoulders which were blue. On the arm-part of both shoulders was a white five point star set against a red circle surrounded by a black boarder. The boots were red as well and came nearly to his knees, the pants themselves were all blue.

The costume also included a blue cowl that covered his head and most of his face. It had a large white 'A' on the forehead.

Furthermore, the costume fit him like a glove. As if it had been tailor-made just for him. He also noticed that the gloves and boots seemed sturdier than the rest of the outfit. That didn't seem unusual to him, until the man said that the entire outfit was made of adamantium cloth, and that the gloves and boots were triple layered for greater strength and durability.

That would actually prove useful in a fight he thought.

Rushuna actually commented on how nice the outfit looked on him, and at least it didn't look like he had been in an explosion.

Eventually, the pair were able to be on their way, after getting their supplies and Rushuna soaking in a nice hot bath.

"Thank you!"

"Come again!"

"You'll always be welcome here, my friends!"

The villagers all gave them a warm send off as the pair headed down the road.

"Mommy, who was that strange man?" one of the children asked.

"I'm not sure, sweetie." the mother said.

"He has a white 'A' on his forehead. Does that mean anything?" the kid asked.

"Uh... yes. I'm sure it does." she said, unsure how that was possible.

"What then?"

"Uh..."

"Avenger." the village elder said, stepping up behind them.

"What?" the woman asked in shock.

"It should stand for Avenger, as he had avenged the injustice of our village." the old man said.

"Then that is what we will call him. The blue Avenger!" the woman grinned, along with her child.

However, Steve was not so far away that he couldn't hear the whisper of the villagers. It actually made him smile.

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Authors Notes:

Hope everyone enjoyed that. I know it's been a long time since I updated this story.

It hasn't reached the mainstream story line of Grenadier yet. Probably by the next chapter. But right now Cap has his new uniform that he wore in Ultimate Avengers.

And before anyone starts getting on me for using Adamantium for his costume, keep in mind that this story takes place in an alternate universe where Adamantium cloth does exist and it used by the Senshi of this world. I am also playing up the part where a senile old man has a vision to make this new outfit for Steve because he knew that he was going to be sent to this world to help them.

Hope everyone enjoyed this and will send me reviews for it.


	3. Sword of the Tiger

_**THE SOLDIER AND THE SENSHI**_

Chapter 3 - **Sword of the Tiger**

by Gunman

Disclaimer: Own nothing, not Grenadier nor Captain America from Ultimate Avengers.

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It had been a week since the unique pair of Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Avenger, and Rushuna Tendoh, a.k.a. the Grenadier, had left the village where Steve had acquired his new uniform. Since then the pair hadn't encountered another group of senshi and it was all in all rather peaceful.

Rushuna had managed to locate another hot springs and was currently indulging in her most favorite pastime: hot springs bathing.

Steve had declined not to join her, just staring out at the land that was supposed to be ravaged by war and violence. Obviously, he found it hard to believe.

"What a beautiful moon." Rushuna sighed.

Steve looked up and grinned. "Yes, it is."

Suddenly, the super soldier's ears caught the sound of crunching dirt underfoot. He remained behind his rock as he saw a young man wearing samurai armor and carrying a sword approach them.

"Huh? What?" the samurai said as he saw Rushuna in the water.

Steve poked his head to the side of the rock. Rushuna saw him, the samurai didn't. She motioned for him to stay behind his rock for the time being.

"Is something wrong, young sir?" Rushuna asked the samurai.

"I... need to hide."

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Several seconds later, a trio of men approached the hot springs.

"Huh? What the..." a plump gun-toting man gasped as he saw the smooth shoulders and hair of the female gunslinger in the hot springs.

"Oh, hello. It's a beautiful night, isn't it?" Rushuna said to the man.

"Uh..."

"Would you care to join me?"

The man gasped happily, but before he could tear his clothes off and jump in, the rest of his troop arrived.

"You! Woman! Have you seen a young samurai with a long sword come this way?" the apparent leader said to the bathing woman.

"A young samurai with a long sword?" Rushuna mused absently. "Hmmm, no. I haven't seen anyone like that today."

"Are you from around here?" he asked.

"No, I'm a traveler." she replied.

"You'd better be careful, little lady. These parts are a battleground." he said to the woman. "Let's go!" he said to the men.

"Huh? But I... hey, wait for me, bro!" the plump senshi said.

"Just shut up and find him!" the leader shouted.

"Wait for me!" he called again and ran off.

Once they were gone, a black mop of hair popped out of the water, right next to Rushuna's bare breasts.

"Excuse me, they're gone now. It's alright." she smiled at the young samurai.

"Thank you so much." he said as the woman just smiled at him.

"Are you two going to be all day?" Steve asked suddenly, revealing himself.

"HUH?" Yajiro gasped as he realized someone else was there.

"Oh, Stechan, don't scare our new friend like that." Rushuna smiled as Steve emerged from behind the rock.

"Didn't mean to." he replied.

"I apologize. I know how that looked, and I didn't mean..." the young samurai stuttered.

Steve's eyebrow creased as he looked at the sword-swinger. "What are you talking about?"

"Uh... well, she had... and I... my face was..." he started to spiel.

"Cradled in her bosom?" he asked, like it was the most harmless thing in the world.

He blushed at that.

"It's something I've had to get used to as well." he explained.

"I just... didn't mean to... with your woman and..."

"What? She's not my woman." Steve stated.

"Uh... you're her bodyguard then?" he queried.

"No. She's my friend and partner. We met several days ago and we've been traveling together ever since." he explained.

"Oh. Okay." the samurai said, as he got out of the water.

"So, who are you and who were those guys?" Steve asked as he noticed the injury of the samurai's leg.

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"They are the Yatou, henchmen of a monster of the dead, Nago Akki, who took over a castle of a local lord." the samurai, who called himself Yajiro Kojima, explained as Steve finished tying off the bandage.

"And you were hired to free this lord." Steve ventured a guess.

"Yes, I was." Yajiro said as he examined the bandage. "Look, both of you should not be involved. Especially you woman."

Steve could have said something to make the young samurai reconsider his words, but without a real demonstration they would seem rather hollow.

"I am a traveler through these troubled times, so I'm well aware of trouble." Rushuna said as she finished dressing behind a rock.

"Oh really. I wonder." he mused.

"And what about you?" she asked the samurai.

"I'm a mercenary. I was hired to rescue a lord who's being held hostage in the castle." he said as he tried to stand.

"And you were beaten." Steve said.

"Yes." he said as he put weight on his leg. "Ouch!" he grimaced as the became real.

"It'll take time for you to heal properly. You shouldn't put too much strain on it." Steve advised.

"I'll keep that in mind. But I need to go." the young samurai said.

"Do you know what the Ultimate Battle Strategy is?" Rushuna suddenly asked.

"Huh?" he paused as Steve grinned. He'd heard this speech many times since he had met her.

"To eliminate the enemy's will to fight without fighting them."

A memory flash of Lady Tenshi entered her mind.

"That's what I was taught by a certain someone that I know. And the way to achieve that is that I must be unarmed." she said.

"Unarmed. You mean.. Naked?"

Steve just grinned as he looked away.

"I must keep smiling. And I must hold the enemy close to my soft bosom. By doing so, the need to fight is eliminated." she said with a smile.

"There's no way you can do that!" Yajiro shouted.

"You have to admit, you just lost your will to fight just now, didn't you?" she grinned.

Gunfire echoed over the mountain range, causing Steve and Yajiro to turn their heads at the cracking.

"Crap! I don't have time for this right now!" he said as he picked up his sword. "If it is your desire not to fight, then you should go home, for your own safety." he said to them.

"You must understand, sir. To right the wrongs of this world, and to eliminate the enemy's will to fight, doesn't always go the way you plan it to go." Rushuna said.

"He's gone." Steve said.

"Huh?" she gasped as she turned around to see that he had indeed left.

The pair just watched from the hot springs as the young samurai followed the river back to the battle.

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At the castle, the sword-wielding samurai soldiers continue to press their advantage as the gun-wielding senshi continue to cut them down.

Just then, their giant leader hoisted his gun up and fired, instantly cutting down many more people in the process.

He just laughed as they died.

"If you want your hostage back, then bring the money, understand?" he shouted from the parapet.

On a ridge overlooking the castle, Yajiro stopped.

"Dammit!" he cursed as he saw their forces cut down.

"Yajiro! You're alive!" an older man gasped as he grudgingly sat up.

"Yes, I'm sorry, commander." he said.

The pair looked down at the battle that was quickly turning into a slaughter.

"We samurai must fight against the gun-toting senshi with only our swords. We'll never win." Yajiro said.

"But still we must fight. It's our duty. We must get our master back." the commander said as he ran down to join his comrades, leaving the young samurai to muse over the situation.

"In this world of chaos, those who have fallen into it's depths believe only in guns and money. For those of us who believe in the way of the sword, this is a lost battle. And I'm a fool for going along with them." he said as he pulled his sword. "But sometimes you just gotta do stupid things!" he grinned at the battle below.

"Hey there, Mr. Stupid!" a sudden voice called out.

"WHA!" he gasped, taken by surprise as he turned around. "Who are you calling stupid?" he shouted then noticed the pair from the springs. "OH, it's you."

"Hello. So we meet again." Rushuna smiled.

"What are you doing here! I told you to turn back! This place is a battleground!" Yajiro stated.

"We're having trouble getting to the castle." Steve said to him.

"Oh course you're having trouble. Just take a look!" Yajiro shouted as he pointed to the battle.

"Hmm. I'm afraid going through that castle is part of my journey." Rushuna said.

"And you?" Yajiro asked Steve.

"I go where the lady goes." Steve answered.

"Oh boy." he said, then noticed something odd. While the man had no weapon in sight, the woman wore a strange gun on her shapely hip he hadn't noticed before when she was dressing. "Sling what you want, but it won't do you any good. And you! You're not carrying anything!" he said to Steve, who was wearing his mask now. "Why don't you just get out of here before you get yourself hurt!"

"Hey! I can't do that." she said playfully.

From the castle parapets one of the senshi looked through a scope and noticed the group on the ridge.

"That's him! The Tiger of the Rear Guard!" he grinned and aimed his gun.

A flash of metal caught both Steve and Rushuna's eye. Before Steve could react, Rushuna slapped Yajiro in the face and out of the way, sending him tumbling to his left, as she pulled her gun from it's holster, firing off a single bullet that flew and all the way to the castle and struck the gun from the man's hand. The impact had also scared the man, knocking him down.

"Hey, there's someone with a gun out there!" he shouted.

"Someone with a gun? Shoot! Kill him!" their large leader shouted.

The gunmen fired at the mountain as Rushuna returned fire as well, her hips shaking with each shot. The gunmen on the upper level of the castle each had their weapons shot out of their hand, and their boss had his stick he was eating food off of shot out as well.

"It's... it's a woman." he gasped as he grabbed his scope and looked through it to the ridge.

Back on the ridge...

"She... she couldn't have!" Yajiro gasped as he just stared at the spectacle he just witnessed.

"OH! I've done it again. I gave my little speech, but I just can't keep from shooting my gun." she said innocently as she smiled and holstered her weapon.

"I don't think they gave you much choice." Steve exclaimed.

"Well, yeah, but, still..."

"I don't believe it. She's a senshi too?" Yajiro gasped.

At hearing that, the woman turned to the young samurai.

"The name's Rushuna Tendoh. It's nice to meet you." she said with a smile.

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Most of the samurai forces had pulled back, but Rushuna, Steve and Yajiro forged ahead to get to the castle gates.

"Wait a second! Wait! Stop! What exactly are you planning to do next?" Yajiro asked as the trio reached the large wooden and steel gates.

"I'm just going to go right through these doors and save the Lord." Rushuna said.

"But to do that, you'll need money to save him. Have you got any money?" he asked her.

"No, I don't have any money, but... I do have a smile." she said as she gave him another dazzling smile.

Yajiro grimaced sourly at that. Not from her smile, but that she actually thought she could use just that to rescue the lord.

"And what about you?" he asked the man in blue. "Do you have any money?"

"Nope. Nothing." Steve replied.

"Great, just great." he grumbled. He then turned to the man. "Uh, who are you anyway?" he asked, wondering why he hadn't before.

"I'm Steve Rogers. Some people have called me Avenger." he said.

"Alright." he accepted that, at least now knowing what the 'A' on his forehead meant.

"Are you stupid?" Yajiro asked the pair.

"You're the stupid one, remember?" Rushuna said.

"No I'm not, I'm Yajiro Kojima, and don't you forget it! And you gotta listen better. Anyway, what are we gonna do with you? You sure don't look it, but you're pretty good with a gun." he said, then looked at Steve. "You, I'm not so sure about. Hey I know, you can lure them in and then you can sabotage Nago. In the meantime, I'll rescue the lord and collect my reward."

"So it's the reward money you're after." she said.

"Grr. Of Course! A samurai has to eat! Why else would I be doing all this? Besides, if we follow the plan we can get into the castle!" he suggested.

"But what I want is to win this battle without fighting, that's what's important to me. Mr Yajirobe!"

"It's Master Yajiro!"

"Hmm." she frowned a little as Steve looked at the young warrior, as if gauging him like she was. "You don't look like a Master, though. Yatchan is more like it!"

"Why Yatchan?"

"Get used to it. She gave me a name too." Steve stated as he pushed on the large gate door.

Suddenly, the large gate opened.

"Huh?"

"It opened."

Steve hadn't been trying to open the gate, but there it was.

"Stechan, Yatchan, look at this!" Rushuna gasped.

"WOW!" the samurai gasped as he peered inside.

The trio looked and saw the small and elderly lord of the castle tied up to a pole in the middle of the courtyard.

However, Steve had seen traps like this before.

"It's too easy." Steve stated.

"Agreed." Rushuna replied.

"I knew it. There's my reward. It's mine!" Yajiro cried as he ran ahead of them.

"Idiot! Wait!" Steve shouted and gave chase.

_That smoke... Ashikabi! (Buried explosives)_ "Yatchan! It's A Trap!" Rushuna shouted.

"What?" he called back, still not slowing his run.

While the young samurai raced towards the bound lord, Steve quickly picked up a rock and hurled it at his injured leg.

"Sorry about this, kid!" he said as he hurled the rock.

The rock hit him in the leg, causing him to go down, in pain.

"AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!" he shouted as he tumbled.

However, he had gotten close enough to the explosives that it set off, stunning, but not killing the young samurai and the lord. The explosions covered the area in thick smoke as Nago and his men appeared in the courtyard.

As the smoke cleared, Steve and Rushuna appeared through it.

"Huh?" the men gasped.

"How did you know about the Ashikabi?" Nago asked, then noticed the gun on her hip. "I see, you're no ordinary girl, are you?"

"Little old me? No, I'm just a traveler." Rushuna smiled.

"Stop fooling around. You can't fool me with that crap. You're excellent marksmanship for one proves without a doubt that you're a senshi."

"A senshi? Oh please, no." she smiled as she waved him off. "Anyway, I've come here to ask you for a favor, Sir Nago."

"Huh?" he asked, curious.

"If you would sir, please let the lord go free." she said.

"So... does that mean you brought money with you?" he asked her.

"Huh?"

"Like I said, I will release him in exchange for the ransom money!"

"I don't have any money. But I do have a smile!"

"Hey! Since she doesn't have any money, how about she pays with her body instead? Pretty please?" A plump senshi thug asked with lustful hope.

Rushuna heard Steve's gloved hand tighten up at that suggestion. A clenched fist meant he was upset and possibly angry. She internally smiled at that.

"A good idea. But I only accept a smile if it comes with cash." Nago said.

"How about just a smile this one time?" she persisted.

"Ha! That's a very funny joke, lady!"

Yajiro grimaced. "I told you your strategy wasn't going to work on this guy." he mumbled.

"If you don't have the money, then you're of no use to me!" he said as he raised his large gun that was attached to his hand. "I'm gonna send you to hell with my galdo, my pride and joy." he said. "DIE!" he shouted as he fired.

His bullets slammed into the pair, kicking up dust as they did.

However, when the smoke cleared...

"What..."

"She..."

"...dodged it." the men gasped

"They both did." the plump senshi gasped.

Yajiro just stared at the pair of them, standing apart, but untouched by the hailstorm of bullets.

Rushuna stared back at the man and frowned a little.

"That precious galdo of yours, was designed for taking over castles. A multiple-firing gun designed for maximum damage. However, it's slow and not very accurate. Old man, you don't even know how to use a gun, do you?" she asked him.

"WHO ARE YOU! I DEMAND TO KNOW!!" Nago shouted, recognizing this as a real threat now.

"I told you, I'm just a traveler... but you just can't seem to grasp it no matter what I say." she said as she reached for her gun. "Since you seem unwilling to listen, and downright rude as well, you don't even get a smile."

"Who needs a smile anyway! Kill them both!"

The men start firing at her, but Rushuna fires back, shooting the guns out of their hands and knocking them all down.

"Not bad, girl." Nago said. "However, your gun is a 38 revolver. Six shots and you're done."

Rushuna just stared at the man, like she didn't care what he was saying.

"How about that? I think... you're the one who doesn't know how to use a gun, girl!" the large man cackled.

Steve saw the men on the upper levels of the castle training their guns on them.

"That's too bad. So as a parting gift, I'll give you a smile! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Rushuna ignored him as she pulled her right foot back a little, pivoting on her toes.

"DIE!" he shouted.

The men started shooting, which gave Steve his cue to move, while Rushuna started spinning in circles like crazy. In the spin, she unloaded the bullets from her gun, the shell casings falling out and away from her in a spin. Unseen by everyone, six more bullet popped up from between her breasts and flew into the air. Rushuna kept spinning as she swiped her empty gun through the haze of bullets, each one sliding into their chambers. The revolver closed shut as she quickly fired off six more rounds at the gunmen, shooting the rifles from their hands.

Nago and Yajiro just watched in amazement as Rushuna kept moving. She raced along the wall as the men kept firing, avoiding their gun blasts and emptying her revolver. She rolled forward, causing more bullets to spill out her shirt, onto her chest, which bounced off and flew into the air. She caught them in her gun chambers once more and quickly fired as she came to a stop in a sitting up position. Six more shots and six more men went down. Not dead, but disarmed.

It was then that Yajiro looked up and saw with amazement that Steve had literally ran up the side of the wall, his feet and forward momentum catching the sides and propelling him over the walls edge and onto the walkway where the other gunmen were. The men on the wall started shooting at him, but to everyone's amazement, he ducked and dodged with almost superhuman speed.

He either could anticipate where the men would shoot, or was faster than the bullets themselves. That didn't seem possible, even as he slipped between the flying metal slugs and lunged at the men, taking down each one with strong, well-placed punches.

The young samurai's attention was split between the amazing marksmanship of Rushuna and the daredevil athleticism of Steve. He watched as the men kept firing, only to have their guns shot out of their hands by the woman, or miss the man who was able to get close enough to punch them out. Four more men were firing from the upper roof level, only to be taken down by the woman who shot their guns out of their hands and causing them to fall off the roof one after the other. Two more men fired at Rushuna from the adjoining wall, only to be body-checked by a blue blur that caused them to fall down onto the courtyard. Bullets and fists flew like a charged tornado until only Rushuna was standing alone in the castle courtyard, and Steve on the upper levels looking down.

Yajiro couldn't help but think that these two worked together in perfect symmetry.

At this point, Nago was panicking like crazy. _Who the heck were these two?_ He wondered. So much so that while his main focus had been on Rushuna, he failed to notice a red gloved fist barreling down on him. He looked up just in time to see it slam hard into his face, and knocking him backwards out the back entry way of the castle.

He sat up and noticed the red, white and blue garbed figure standing between him and his former hostage, fist clenched.

Nago quickly scrambled to his feet and ran as fast as he could out of the castle.

"That woman and her skill. That man and his strength. It's impossible!" he panicked as he fled.

He made it up the mountain side, surprised that no one was following him, only to turn around and notice from the lookout post, which was more of a porch/rear deck, a single figure holding a gun. His eyes focused on the image, realizing that it was the woman. The blue man appearing next to her.

Rushuna's eyes never wavered as she fired off six shots at the large departing man. Each shot cut through his armor and striking his Galdo, stripping him clean of both.

He cried as he waddled off into the distance.

"Well?" Steve asked

"Looks like everything's back to normal now." Rushuna said with a smile.

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"Yatchan, you did a really good job back there. I'm sure they would have gladly hired you to join them." Rushuna said as the trio walked the path that lead away from the castle.

"I don't want to be in the military." Yajiro said, mildly disappointed that he didn't get the full reward he had been promised. He turned to the woman, who was walking between him and Steve. "So... how come you totally missed all their vital organs? All that shooting and you didn't even kill one of them." he said.

"I had no intention of killing any of them." she answered.

"I see." Yajiro said, not totally convinced. He then turned to Steve. "And you, where did you learn how to dodge the bullets of a senshi?"

"Life experience." Steve said simply.

It was in that moment that Yajiro made a worthwhile decision.

"I'm gonna be your partner." the samurai said.

"Partner with you?" Rushuna caught him.

"Yeah, that's right. I don't like the senshi, but I have a feeling you're different from them. And if we join forces together we can rule the world!" he noticed the pair were not with him. Looking back he saw them standing on the hilltop next to a tree. "What do you say? Lets put our forces together!"

"In this chaotic world... if I could get even one person to stop fighting..." Rushuna said as she put her hand on the tree, as if trying to feel at one with the earth itself.

"Heh! Oh please! Give me a break! There seems to be a huge difference between what you preach and what you practice. Showing off your shooting skills like that."

"I know, you're right. But that's the ideal I'm working towards and one day I'll reach that goal. That's what this journey is all about for me." suddenly she paused and stared. "Look! There's a hot springs over there! Come on, hurry up, Stechan, Yatchan! Come on!"

"Uh..." Steve started to protest.

"Come on I'll scrub your back for you!" she smiled.

"Uh, no thanks! You don't do what you say you're going to do!" Yajiro shouted.

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Author's Notes:

Well, here is my third chapter to this story and I hope everyone liked it.

It starts in the mainstream of the show itself, and finally introduces Yajiro. Hopefully, I placed Steve in the right context to be partnered with Rushuna and Yajiro as he fought the other senshi. Also, that whole bit where he dodged the bullets... that was something I took from the movie Street Fighter Alpha, where Ryu was the one dodging bullets.

I figured, at his best, Steve's super soldier athleticism would have made that possible. It's sort of an extreme talent for Captain America to have, but I liked the idea of it.

After all, Rushuna can shoot with uncanny precision, Yajiro can actually deflect bullets with his sword, so having Steve dodge the bullets seemed logical. At least to me.

And now that Steve has his new uniform, I just need to give him his shield. That will probably happen next chapter or so.

This is going to be my update for now, so I won't be able to do more for a while. Hopefully this will tied people over for a time. I am planning on finishing this some day. But for now, enjoy.

And as always, Read and Review.


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